Congratulations to the winners of 2024 QDS Hacks: Ian Chan, Caroline Su, Jonathan Liu, and Jaden Cheah. The judges were impressed with this team’s project “PAWsitive,” which featured a complex tech stack and production ready design. Their dynamic presentation demonstrated effective collaboration between Computing and Business students, highlighting each member’s individual strengths and leading to a standout project. Visit qds-hacks-2024.devpost.com to see their project and many others.
What is a Hackathon?
A hackathon is a creative technology-focused event based on innovation and community; the rules and goals can vary wildly. At QDS Hacks 2024, BCIT students worked together to create a functioning program based on the data and prompt they were given. This BCITSA-led hackathon lasted 72 hours.
How Did it Happen?
It took 6 months of planning, 62 volunteers, 5 sponsors, and 12 BCITSA employees to plan and present the 2024 QDS Hacks. The event started with 180 participants and ended with 142 across 26 teams, each presenting their projects to a panel of expert judges. Joining a Hackathon may be intimidating, especially if it is your first time, but our winners didn’t let that stop them!
Participating In A Hackathon
Participating in a hackathon offers the rewarding experience of building something amazing that you can showcase. If you’re thinking of joining one, check out these tips from our expert judges:
- Judge Donna Turner (Associate Dean of Computing) reminds students to “refer to the judging criteria” and to “provide strong evidence for each of the categories.”
- Ben Lee (Senior Leader Provincial Education, PHSA said that they were most impressed by projects that “articulated a clear problem and offered a meaningful solution. Sometimes less is truly more, especially when it comes to relevancy.”
- Mahdi Shooshtari (Data Scientist, Teck Resources) suggested that: “leveraging tools like Gen AI and ChatGPT can streamline development processes, freeing up valuable time for team members to hone and refine their ideas more effectively.”
Our Winners
Our first-place team was a group of four first-year BCIT students from the School of Computing & Academic Studies and the school of Business + Media. All QDS events require collaboration between Computing and Business, and this team was a perfect example. This gamified wellness app, PAWsitive, is a “gacha”-style app based on the encouraging atmosphere of Duolingo (but without the subtle threats and shame).
- Judge Donna Turner said that “This team immediately stood out during the final judging round because of the energy of their presentation.”
- Judge Amanda Dell’Aquila (Learning and Development Specialist, PHSA) said “what really impressed me was their research into other apps and the learning they incorporated from their analysis into their own design.”
- Judge Morgan Westcott (Associate Dean of Marketing) said having business and computing students work together was “the best of both worlds – technical know-how presented with marketing finesse. The presentation offered both the steak, and the sizzle!”
We couldn’t have said it better!
Sponsors & Judges
This event was made possible thanks to the generous support of the BCIT School of Business + Media, the BCIT School of Computing & Academic Studies, the Provincial Health Services Authority, the BCIT Alumni Association, and Teck Resources. We also want to thank our thirteen judges and fourteen mentors who all gave this event so much of their valuable time. Our sincere thanks to them for making this event a success.
